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Task Management Tool (TMT) – Seven Months Since “Go Live” at HQDA

By PD Enterprise Services Public Affairs

February 15, 2018 - In June 2017, the Program Office, Army Enterprise Staff Management System (AESMS) replaced the Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) Tasker Tracking System with a proprietary, commercial-off-the-shelf Task Management Tool (TMT) system for both Non-Secure and Secure Internet Protocol Networks. TMT is automated, enabling the end-to-end tasker lifecycle to be completed electronically within a single application. Not only has TMT increased tasking efficiency, the tool provides transparency and accountability of works in progress and completed assignments.

More than 11,000 trained users at every level have contributed to the tools success—equaling more than 25,000 unique taskers and more than 100,000 tasker assignments on Non-classified Internet Protocol Router (NIPR). TMT has provided a mechanism to handle the volume of assignments apportioned to HQDA. As a result, HQDA has experienced a 33 percent decrease in late taskers and a 14-day reduction in completion time.

AESMS TMT also helped the U.S. Forces Command, Korea manage their tasks and achieved the following:

More streamlined business processes

Downtime reduced by 40 percent due to Army

Logistics Technology Enterprise Systems and Services (ALTESS) hosting

Increased staff productivity by more than 25 percent.

Central Hosting at ALTESS reduced costs by $2.2 million

To date, Enterprise Tasking Service (ETS) has completed more than 1,300 taskers, allowing HQDA to exchange tasks across the DoD. Moreover, ETS enables HQDA to transfer taskers with other TMT tenants, including the U.S. Forces Command; U.S. Army Reserve Command; U.S. Army European Command; the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Correspondence and Task Management System (CATMS). The TMT allows AESMS to move towards realizing its vision of an enterprise-wide service and task management solution for the Department of the Army.

The TMT allows AESMS to move towards an enterprise-wide, software as a service and task management solution, realizing its vision of becoming a program of record for the Department of the Army.

Additional TMT benefits:

Currently deployed at more than 30 organizations and used by approximately 75,000, TMT has increased staff collaboration from 10 percent to 40 percent in every organization measured

TMT has capabilities designed specifically for large enterprises, assigning tasks to teams or individuals, creating levels of sub-assignments as needed and ensuring all staff sees task information and deadlines in one location.

As situations change, information updates can be provided immediately. TMT assignments can be changed at any time and email notifications are sent automatically to affected parties. As staff members respond, real-time status and responses are visible across the entire organization.

About PD Enterprise Services

In 2016, the U.S. government passed the Modernizing Government Technology Act to streamline, protect and modernize information technology (IT) assets. Project Director (PD) Enterprise Services (ES) supports the Army’s network modernization efforts and strives to enable a globally responsive and regionally aligned network designed to meet the needs of joint force commanders across the full range of military operations.
PD ES is responsible for acquiring, fielding, and performing lifecycle sustainment of enterprise level services supporting many of the Army Chief Information Officer’s highest priority enterprise initiatives. The project director provides leadership to a staff of more than 300 government and contractor personnel across six product offices, in three geographic locations.
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Posted February 16, 2018

PdM I3MP visits Ft Leonard Wood as part of the TDM-IP transition

By Mr. Scott Sundsvold, I3MP Strategic Communication Support

Fort Leonard Wood is the first Army installation in the continental United States to complete a migration from a legacy analog telephone system to an Internet Protocol-based voice architecture.

To mark the historic event, Soldiers, Civilians, and Contractors gathered at the Network Enterprise Center, “cutting the ribbon” on the installation’s upgraded voice architecture on December 13, 2017.

P2E Welcomes New SWA APM

The Power Projection Enablers (P2E) Southwest Asia (SWA) directorate has a new addition to its team. CPT Lonnie Jordan Sr. reported to Fort Belvoir in mid-October as the SWA assistant product manager (APM). CPT Jordan joins P2E after serving as the munition branch chief in Wichita, Kansas, for two years. He brings more than 29 years of military experience to the organization and a wealth of knowledge as a logistician.

CPT Jordan is a native of Houston, Texas, and received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University. CPT Jordan continued to pursue his interest in criminal justice and earned a second bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and protective services from Excelsior College. CPT Jordan also recently earned a Master of Arts degree in marriage and family counseling. His interest in behavioral science lead to his position as an adjunct instructor at both Upper Iowa University and Central Texas College, where he taught conflict resolution and criminal justice classes. When asked about conflict resolution tips, CPT Jordan said, “The first step to resolving any conflict is to first acknowledge that an issue exists. Then you have to know your audience and how they will receive the information. You have to be flexible in your communication and approach.”

CPT Jordan’s most important job is father to his three children; Lonnie Jr., Isley and Kyarra Nicole. In addition to spending time with his kids, CPT Jordan enjoys working out, fishing and reading.

While visiting the site, Mr. Matthew Maier, product director, MC4, briefed the capability of the MC4 system. “If we don’t consider the network and bandwidth limitations of our operational forces up front, we will field systems that they can’t use,” said Mr. Maier. “Testing fielded Army capabilities on actual Army networks is critical to deployment. Getting a clear picture of the medical systems’ capabilities before they are shipped to theater is vital.”

The results of the Army Capability Integration Center-sponsored focused assessment will identify doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership, education, personnel, facilities and policy insights. The assessment will determine future capability requirements as well as shape a follow-on proof of concept at the Fort Detrick Army Enterprise Gateway scheduled for later in February 2018.

Posted February 01, 2018

CHESS Consolidated Buy 26

By Ms. Tricia Shelley, Public Affairs, CHESS

The Computer Hardware Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) Consolidated Buy (CB) 26 is open for ordering from Jan. 16, 2018 through March 31, 2018 and offers all Windows 10 devices. This is the last CB period before the DOD Windows 10 Secure Host Baseline implementation deadline for all Army organizations. CB 26 will offer the latest laptops, desktops, notebooks, printers, monitors and peripherals with model upgrades for many of the products. CB 26 computers come pre-loaded with Windows 10 Army Gold Master, Trusted Platform Module 2.0 and a minimum of eight gigabytes of RAM. Customers looking to procure Windows 10 compliant hardware are encouraged to use the CHESS CB compare tool to select and compare similar products.

Organizations that take advantage of CB net significant savings regardless of the quantities procured. For more information on CB 26 or the DOD Windows 10 Secure Host Baseline implementation visit the CHESS IT e-mart at https://chess.army.mil/ or contact the CHESS Customer Support Center at armychess@mail.mil or 1-888-232-4405.

On Dec. 4, 2017, Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO) held an industry day for Cyberspace Real-time Acquisition Prototyping Innovation Development, also known as C-RAPID, on Fort Belvoir, Virginia. DCO is looking for a consortium that can help accomplish Agile processes while staying synchronized with technology providing flexible, efficient modular designs needed for Army cyber operations. “Today is not only about cyber, but where we can go with acquisition,” said LTC Scott Helmore, product manager, DCO. “How do we start with cyber and really just blow it up?” he asked the audience of industry partners and government stakeholders.

The consortium will manage a 60-day prototype process, which includes a 30-day procurement spirit and operational assessment. DCO is planning a solicitation release by March 2018 and a final award by May 2018. The competing industry partners on the consortium receive a down select, which leads to a potential trial test period in order to see how their products work with the Army’s DCO systems. “This process is preventing everyone from wasting their time,” said LTC Helmore. “We give industry the capability to build inside our environment; this reduces both of our risks.”

By using an evolutionary acquisition process, DCO plans to use a single acquisition document to reduce documentation by focusing on capability drop decisions, not traditional milestone decisions. Using these techniques, DCO will be able to provide acquisition capabilities much faster. The consortium will solve problems, build a cyber-industrial bench and, ultimately, be a more cost-effective experience for the Army.

DCO is a program under Installation Information Infrastructure – Communications and Capabilities. They create defensive cyber capabilities for the U.S. Army Cyber Protection Teams. The focus: take immediate action to protect data and networks – in all operating environments and conditions. DCO currently has eleven requirements they are focused on today, with six programs starting in 2018.

Posted February 01, 2018

PEO EIS RELINQUISHMENT OF CHARTER

By Ms. Katherine Morgan, Communications Specialist, PEO EIS

MG Burden’s family was also in attendance, including his brother Charles, wife, Veorah, sons Preston and Prescott, and sister-in-law Kathy.

On Jan. 8, PEO EIS bid farewell to MG Patrick W. Burden at a Relinquishment of Charter ceremony held at Thurman Hall on Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The ceremony was hosted by LTG Paul Ostrowski, Principal Military Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology) and Director of the Army Acquisition Corps, who presented MG Burden with the Legion of Merit for his role as PEO, which he began in November 2016. MG Burden left PEO EIS to transition to his new role as deputy commander, Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan for Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. Ms. Chérie Smith, who was serving as the acting deputy PEO, became the acting PEO.

Immediately before the ceremony, colleagues had a chance to thank MG Burden for his leadership during his farewell luncheon held at the Fort Belvoir Officers Club. Mr. Reginald Bagby, G-3/5/7 director, narrated the luncheon, while Ms. Smith provided welcoming remarks and presented MG Burden with a collage of the PEO and O-6 program coins. COL Kevin Stoddard, chief of staff, also gave remarks and reflected over his last 14 months working alongside MG Burden, followed by COL Mike Sloane, assistant PEO. Next were remarks and tokens of appreciation from COL Robert Mikesh, project manager, Army Enterprise Systems Integration Program; COL Matt Russell, project manager, General Fund Enterprise Business System; COL Darby McNulty, Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army; COL Enrique Costas, project manager, Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems; COL Chad Harris, project manager, Installation Information Infrastructure – Communications and Capabilities; and Mr. Thomas Neff, project director, Enterprise Services. Finally, MG Burden took the stage to thank all in attendance for their support during his tenure as PEO, especially his family.

1.0 Purpose: The purpose of the Cyberspace Real-time Acquisition Prototyping Innovation Development (C-RAPID) process is to expedite development, demonstration, and delivery of prototypes to increase Warfighter readiness. The Army plans to manage this process via a Consortium Management Firm (CMF) and plans to insure innovative and collaborative industry engagements via use of Consortiums.

2.0 Overview:

2.1 The C-RAPID process will be utilized to develop cyberspace related prototypes directly relevant to enhancing the mission effectiveness of military personnel and the supporting platforms, systems, components, or materials proposed to be acquired or developed by the Department of Defense (DoD), or to improvement of platforms, systems, components, or materials in use by the armed forces.

2.2 The Government will use the CMF to foster meaningful collaboration between Government, Industry, Consortiums, and Academia to identify and develop enabling technologies necessary to broaden capabilities on the Cyberspace domain and to ensure the highest level of readiness for our nation’s Warfighters. C-RAPID will provide the Government an agile mechanism to iteratively refine critical technologies in order to inform future materiel procurement requirements through structured operational user feedback.

2.3 Potential technology objectives to be addressed under C-RAPID may include, but are not limited to:

Forensics and Malware detection

Deployable and static Hardware infrastructure

Cyberspace Situational Understanding

Offensive Cyberspace capabilities

Threat Discovery and Emulation

Advanced Sensors

Cyberspace Tools

Cyberspace mission planning and execution

Advanced network components

Insider Threat detection and prevention

Artificial Intelligence and Patterns of Life for cyberspace analytics

Cyber Training

3.0 Consortium Management Firm (CMF) – The CMF will be responsible for managing a rapid prototyping process. This includes providing expert opinions on potential solutions as well as recommendations for future prototyping events and technologies. Due to the responsibilities of managing the consortium and in the interest of maintaining fairness, the selected CMF is prohibited from performing under any contract/agreement with any direct or indirect influence or impact on a known or potential consortium prototype project or follow-on effort.

4.0 Consortium Members – Industry members will make up one or several consortiums which will be utilized for the C-RAPID process. These consortiums shall be open to new industry members and have a relatively easy process to on-board new members. All Consortium members will be offered the opportunity to provide white papers to Government issues, as well as recommend new technologies to the CMF for Government consideration in a future C-RAPID event.

5.0 30 Day Prototyping Process – The intent of the 30 day rapid prototyping process is to quickly find potential solutions to Cyber requirements. This process is different than traditional Other Transactional Authority (OTA) processes by placing decision makers into a consolidated location and giving them a suspense to work to award. Consortium members that show up to C-RAPID events are expected to be empowered to negotiate on behalf of their companies. The Government contracting, programmatic, resourcing, and technical teams will be onsite at events and empowered to make decisions up to $13M without additional reviews. The process will utilize the following Steps:

5.1 White Paper - The process begins with the CMF receiving a Cyber Capability Drop or Cyber Needs form. The CMF will then recommend a consortium and request 2 page highlight concept papers from consortium members. Industry representatives have 5 calendar days to respond. These papers will be reviewed by the Subject Matter Expert (SME) Panel. The Panel will consist of two to four members from the CMF, two (2) Operational user personnel, and two (2) Government program office personnel. Papers will be reviewed within three (3) Calendar days and industry will be informed of down select.

5.2 Shark Tank – Down selected industry members will be invited to pitch their ideas in front of the SME panel in a “Shark Tank” like environment. Demonstrations will be done at commercial CMF, other facility, or potentially over a remote video capability. The SME panel reserves the right to recommend teaming or refinement of the idea as well as a white paper (up to ten pages) of the idea. The SME panel will decide upon conclusion of all pitches which industry members will be invited to the final “Crucible” event. This event will last no more than three (3) calendar days with two (2) additional days for SME recommended re-pitches.

5.3 Crucible - The crucible event will take place at a Government location or Cyber Range and is limited to the best industry concepts (likely no more than four (4) industry representatives per requirement). The event focuses on testing the concept and its potential impacts to other Government cyberspace capabilities. During this phase industry refines their products to best meet Government requirements and provides a final capability demonstration. A final selection is made by the SME panel and a contract is awarded on the spot. The Crucible will last no more than three (3) calendar days with two (2) days for negotiations.

5.4 Award/User Assessment - Concluding the selection and contract award industry provides a prototype for up to 30 days for user assessment.

Visual Graphic of C-RAPID Process

6.0 60 Day Risk Management Framework Process – As a part of the C-RAPID process an expedited Authority to Connect process will also be utilized. This process will include a group (RMF Assistance Team) within the C-RAPID CMF community that will be dedicated to helping non-traditional DoD Businesses understand the DoD RMF process and documentation that is necessary to connect commercial capabilities to DoD networks. The RMF Assistance Team will work with industry members to provide templates and understanding of documentation for their products. This is key since status of documentation may be taken into account for down selection to the crucible event.

7.0 DCO Development sandbox – The CMF is responsible for providing access to Defensive Cyber Sandbox locations throughout the United States. These locations will provide consortium members with an environment to develop and test their capabilities prior to C-RAPID events.

8.0 Next Steps – The Government plans to select a CMF in March, a Government Crucible location known as the “Forge” will be stood up by March 2018, a commercial location for the “Shark Tank” will be stood up by May 2018, and the first C-RAPID requirement will run NLT June 2018.